As I think Maître De Bellefeuille said, they would likely be unsecured creditors at the very bottom of the heap. If the company were to come to an arrangement to hand out, let's say, 17¢ on the dollar, they would get their portion after secured creditors took that 17¢, and I'm sure their complaint would be larger than that. So they would probably get nothing. I understand the concern might be that if there are refunds offered, some airlines may become financially unstable, and then that would happen and there would be a knock-on effect.
However, my understanding is a bailout package is being negotiated—without consumers in the room, I might add. If that's the case, then I think it's eminently reasonable to ask for refunds, especially if taxpayers are already going to be making sure that no one goes bankrupt.